“But even though there were plenty of teeth in the grin, there was no heart.”

“Even though sugar was very expensive, people consumed it till their teeth turned black, and if their teeth didn't turn black naturally, they blackened them artificially to show how wealthy and marvelously self-indulgent they were.”

“Boys play with death as though it were a game, cutting their teeth on daggers.”

“An old drinking buddy of mine had come home from a two-week binge with a rose tattooed on his arm. Around the blossom was written Fuck ‘em all/and sleep till noon. His wife made him have it surgically removed, but she hated the scar even more. Every time he touched it, he grinned. Some years later she tried to remove the grin with a wine bottle, but she only knocked out a couple of teeth, which made the grin even more like a sneer. The part that I don’t understand, though, is that they are still married. He is still grinning and she is still hating it.”

“He glanced at her. “You were the moon of my existence; your moods dictated the tides of my heart.”The tides of her own heart surged at his words, even though his words were nothing but lies.”

“Travis,” Caeden’s teeth groaned together. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll run.”“Oh, are we playing cat and mouse?” Travis grinned, showing elongated teeth. Hair began to sprout and he started to shimmer. “I love games. I choose cat,” his words were muffled around his teeth.”